ASTRA stands for:
Ability
Service
Training
Responsibility
Achievement
Would you like to know more about ASTRA? This post about our Service committees provides some additional information about ASTRA. Or, click here to read all of this website's articles about ASTRA.
2008-2009 Committees
The following members are serving as Committee Chair for 2008-2009
Communications - Roberta Hoey
Communications - Roberta Hoey
- Archives/Sister Club: Becky Wolford
- Bylaws: Susan Woody
- Elections: Dorothy Causey
- Newsletter: Betty Lundgren
- Publicity: Dorothy Causey
- Telephone: Bonnie Eakin
- Website: Diane Winger
- Yearbook: Susan Woody
- Bequests & Grants: Elaine Moore
- Spring Luncheon: Lita Sargent
- Holiday Festival: Bobbi Brown
- Golf Tournament: Alice Vest
- Fundraising: Lorie Bollig
- ASTRA: Judy Snedeker
- Awards: Susan Woody
- Bell Ringing: Lynda Wareham
- Christmas Baskets: Sally Senger
- Educational Services: Evelyn Lawson
- Environmental: Anita Johansen & Cheryl Gibson
- International Relations: Carol Parker
- Lifeline: Alice Vest
- Literacy: Joey Montoya Boese
- Love Hug Bears: Rose Price
- Member Issues: Jeanne Kuchynka
- Tender Touch Turbans: Joyce Loss
- Christmas Party: Marianne Cross
- Courtesy: Kaye Hotsenpiller
- Initiation/Installation: Natalie Frush
- Orientation: Marianne Cross
- Stategic Planning: Margaret Goodhue & Susan Woody
June 2008 Newsletter
The current issue of our local newsletter, ALTRUSUN, is available online:
June 2008, Volume 32, Issue 1 (600 Kb PDF)
June 2008, Volume 32, Issue 1 (600 Kb PDF)
Altrusa Motto
Did you know...
Altrusa Motto = Patriotism, Efficiency, Service
(These are the words that appear on the Altrusa International logo)
Altrusa Motto = Patriotism, Efficiency, Service
(These are the words that appear on the Altrusa International logo)
Altrusa of Montrose Service Committees
Community service is a fundamental part of Altrusa. Our Club's Service committees are:
Service - Reviews funding requests from other non-profit organizations for projects which provide a service to our local community and beyond, and makes recommendations to the Board to issue grant money. The Service committee oversees the other service-related committees listed below, and presents new service projects to the Club.
ASTRA - An extension of Altrusa for young people age 12 to 25. Provides opportunities for school, community and international service projects, personal development, and career planning. The ASTRA club strives to create an environment that will promote fellowship and better understanding among all people by fostering positive relationships.
Awards - Our immediate Past President submits our service projects to Altrusa International and to Altrusa District Ten for consideration of service awards.
Bell Ringing - Volunteer to act as Salvation Army bell-ringers during the holiday season.
Christmas Baskets - Provides needed goods to several local-area families at Christmas time.
Educational Services - Prepares scholarship applications, distributes to schools, reviews applications, interviews students, and awards scholarships.
Environmental - "To understand Nature is to love her. To love her is to desire to protect and preserve her." This committee's mission is environmental education and projects in areas such as recycling, composting, and beautification projects.
International Relations - Seeks to improve awareness of and relations with other cultures and countries. The committee seeks to achieve this goal by carefully selecting projects and programs with an international focus and by highlighting various United Nations International days throughout the club year.
Lifeline - Installs & maintains Lifeline units in the homes of over 100 Montrose-area residents.
Literacy - Provides funding for Adult basic education; recognizes 8 local teachers per year with Apple Awards; creates Buddy Bags filled with reading books, activity books, crayons, etc. and distributes about 200 bags per year to Hilltop, the Dental Clinic, Tri-County Resource, Women's Resource Center, and Medical Mission; organizes a project for Make a Difference Day; collects new and used books for Seasons Readings, which are given as holiday gifts for children identified by Social Services.
Love Hug Bears - Delivers approximately 700 stuffed bears each year to Montrose Memorial Hospital emergency room & same day surgery unit to be given to children when they enter the hospital. This project, started in 1998, continues to be an outpouring of love from Altrusa members to bring comfort and security to children who have to make a trip to the hospital.
Member Issues - Seeks to address concerns to women, men, and children's health and welfare. Major on-going project is to provide assistance for the annual Bosom Buddies Walk/Run.
Tender Touch Turbans - Knits and sews turbans for cancer patients to keep their heads warm after losing their hair. Provides between 30 and 50 turbans each year for people in the Montrose area.
Service - Reviews funding requests from other non-profit organizations for projects which provide a service to our local community and beyond, and makes recommendations to the Board to issue grant money. The Service committee oversees the other service-related committees listed below, and presents new service projects to the Club.
ASTRA - An extension of Altrusa for young people age 12 to 25. Provides opportunities for school, community and international service projects, personal development, and career planning. The ASTRA club strives to create an environment that will promote fellowship and better understanding among all people by fostering positive relationships.
Awards - Our immediate Past President submits our service projects to Altrusa International and to Altrusa District Ten for consideration of service awards.
Bell Ringing - Volunteer to act as Salvation Army bell-ringers during the holiday season.
Christmas Baskets - Provides needed goods to several local-area families at Christmas time.
Educational Services - Prepares scholarship applications, distributes to schools, reviews applications, interviews students, and awards scholarships.
Environmental - "To understand Nature is to love her. To love her is to desire to protect and preserve her." This committee's mission is environmental education and projects in areas such as recycling, composting, and beautification projects.
International Relations - Seeks to improve awareness of and relations with other cultures and countries. The committee seeks to achieve this goal by carefully selecting projects and programs with an international focus and by highlighting various United Nations International days throughout the club year.
Lifeline - Installs & maintains Lifeline units in the homes of over 100 Montrose-area residents.
Literacy - Provides funding for Adult basic education; recognizes 8 local teachers per year with Apple Awards; creates Buddy Bags filled with reading books, activity books, crayons, etc. and distributes about 200 bags per year to Hilltop, the Dental Clinic, Tri-County Resource, Women's Resource Center, and Medical Mission; organizes a project for Make a Difference Day; collects new and used books for Seasons Readings, which are given as holiday gifts for children identified by Social Services.
Love Hug Bears - Delivers approximately 700 stuffed bears each year to Montrose Memorial Hospital emergency room & same day surgery unit to be given to children when they enter the hospital. This project, started in 1998, continues to be an outpouring of love from Altrusa members to bring comfort and security to children who have to make a trip to the hospital.
Member Issues - Seeks to address concerns to women, men, and children's health and welfare. Major on-going project is to provide assistance for the annual Bosom Buddies Walk/Run.
Tender Touch Turbans - Knits and sews turbans for cancer patients to keep their heads warm after losing their hair. Provides between 30 and 50 turbans each year for people in the Montrose area.
ASTRA applies for award
Montrose High School's ASTRA Club, sponsored by Altrusa of Montrose, kept very busy this past year completing an outstanding number of hands-on service projects that will impact people in need both locally and internationally. Their application for a Service Award from Altrusa International can be read here.
Our local ASTRA Club has won this international award 3 times in the past, including last year (2006/2007). We wish them the best of luck with this impressive resume, and hope this year will mark their 4th win.
Here is a summary of their projects -- keep in mind that all this was accomplished in just ONE year:
- partnered with Altrusa for a highway clean-up project
- walked in the Bosom-Buddy Walk/Run
- shopped for Tandem Family children at Christmas. Twenty-one children received wrapped presents that were delivered to Health and Human Services for at-risk youth
- stuffed 60 Hospice Grief Bags for children experiencing anticipatory grief or who had just lost a loved one
- coat checkers and servers for Hospice and Palliative Care of Western Colorado’s benefit gala
- 16-week project for Hilltop’s Nurturing Parenting Class. Members babysat infants and toddlers for a total of 112 hours.
- raised funds for The Pregnancy Center, which helps pregnant teens
- assembled 30 boxes for Social Services. The boxes are filled with personal care items and school supplies purchased by the club. Altrusans contributed items to this project as well.
- donated funds to Kelly Marston, a ten year-old battling cancer
- helped fund a teacher for 1 year in the village of Nunthala, Nepal. The $500 ASTRA donation was matched by our Altrusa club. The teacher’s specific duty is to prepare students for the Iron Gate Exam, a test required for entrance into any kind of secondary program.
- donated $500 to Friendship House in Kathmandu. Friendship House rehabilitates and educates girls retrieved from human trafficking activities. The funds will be used to by the girls to identify and fund community service projects, much like Altrusans.
- filled thirty pencil boxes with personal care items and school supplies for the girls at Friendship House
- raised funds for Pennies for Peace to build schools in the dangerous and remote mountainous areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
- raised funds to benefit orphans at the Charisma Bethel Children’s Home in Mindanao, Philippines. Seven teens from Montrose will visit the orphanage this summer.
What is the "key" to Altrusa?
Did you know....
Altrusa Key:
Amity
Loyalty
Talent
Reciprocity
Unity
Service
Achievement
The name "Altrusa" was originally coined from "Altruism" and "USA" back in 1917 when the first Altrusa club was formed. Altrusa became international in 1935 with its first club in Mexico.
Today there are over 150 Altrusa clubs throughout the US (including Puerto Rico), plus clubs in Canada, England, Scotland, El Salvador, Guatemala, Bermuda, India, New Zealand, Korea, Russia, and Ukraine.
Altrusa Key:
Amity
Loyalty
Talent
Reciprocity
Unity
Service
Achievement
The name "Altrusa" was originally coined from "Altruism" and "USA" back in 1917 when the first Altrusa club was formed. Altrusa became international in 1935 with its first club in Mexico.
Today there are over 150 Altrusa clubs throughout the US (including Puerto Rico), plus clubs in Canada, England, Scotland, El Salvador, Guatemala, Bermuda, India, New Zealand, Korea, Russia, and Ukraine.
Altrusa Cleans Up...
Lorie Bollig, Bonnie Eakin, Debbie Tucker, Sheryl Solow, Natalie Frush, Diane Winger, Jeanne Kuchynka, and Roberta Hoey pose in their safety vests. Not pictured: Anita Johansen, Charlie Winger, Cheryl Gibson
...our "Adopted" portion of highway, that is. On a warm and breezy Saturday morning, a group of Altrusans (plus one dedicated spouse) donned the infamous safety vests and picked up car parts, plastic, cans, glass, cardboard, cigarette butts, construction materials, and even a little spare change (12¢) along the highway.We ended the morning with lemonade, cookies, and free beef Jerky. Ray himself (of "Ray's Good Stuff" -- the Jerky business we all parked near to start our clean-up efforts) came out to thank our crew and give us some delicious treats.
Altrusa cleans up a 2-mile stretch of US Hwy 550 twice a year as part of Colorado Department of Transporation's Adopt-a-Highway program.
ASTRA Club raises funds for Pennies for Peace
Montrose High School's ASTRA Club members collected $444.58, mostly in pennies, as part of their International service project supporting Pennies for Peace. Students set out penny-collection jars and informational brochures (699 kb PDF) at a number of Montrose businesses and organizations. With the help of the staff at Vectra Bank, ASTRA members counted the pennies and other donations collected.
Pennies for Peace is a program of Central Asia Institute (CAI), a charitable organization which builds schools, trains teachers, and provides women's vocational training and public health programs in remote rural communities in Central Asia, including Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Educating girls is a top priority for CAI. The literacy rate in Afghanistan is about 32%, but, while the literacy rate for men is 47%, the rate for women is estimated at only 3%. Even a fifth-grade education level for girls helps to reduce the infant mortality rate significantly, in addition to improving the general health and quality of life for women and their children.
The Montrose community, including Altrusa International, Inc. of Montrose CO and Montrose High School, has raised over $4,600 for CAI to date. This donation amount can support 100 primary students for a year, provide annual supplies to a Women's Center and to a Midwife, fund 2 advanced student scholarships, plus pay the annual salary for 3 teachers.
ASTRA would like to thank the Montrose community for their donations to the Pennies for Peace jars, and especially thank the following businesses and organizations for displaying Pennies for Peace jars in their offices:
Montrose School District Central Office
Montrose High School Guidance Office
Dr. Mindy Miller
Mesa State College
Nepal Restaurant
Camelot Gardens
Brown's Shoe Fit
Buckhorn Geotech
Montrose Memorial Hospital
The Ute Museum
Gigi Ann's
The Coffee Trader
Parker Investments
Thanks also to the folks at Vectra Bank for letting the group use their coin-counting machine (much to the relief of several girls who thought they'd be counting coins by hand), and for the warm reception, cold punch, and cookies.
Altrusa Lamplighter
Did you Know?
An Altrusa Lamplighter is an Altrusan that has contributed $500 or more to the International Foundation in a twelve month period. Lamplighters receive a special Lamplighter pin. A second contribution of $500 provides the Lamplighter with a Lamplighter pendant. With each additional $500, the Lamplighter receives a diamond chip to add to the Lamplighter pendant.
Do you know a Lamplighter?
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